This invention relates to an attachment which can be used in combination with relatively inexpensive and readily available equipment presently available to automobile detailers and others who are interested in cleaning the interior of used vehicles.
The used vehicle trade is a substantial business involving not only used automobiles, but used pick-up trucks and the like. The used vehicles are frequently obtained as a result of trade-ins towards the purchase of new vehicles, through private sales or through automobile auctions. Before the used vehicle is offered for sale, it is the practice to place the vehicle in clean condition, one part of which involves cleaning the interior of the vehicle, such as the upholstery and carpet of the vehicle. Special machines have been developed to aid in carrying out such cleaning processes, but are generally quite expensive and cumbersome, and are not generally readily maneuverable into the tighter places in the interior of a vehicle. Typically, such machines employ a hand tool which is moved back and forth over an area to be cleaned. The apparatus sprays a cleaning solution on the area to be cleaned, while at the same time vacuum extracting dirty solution and dirt. Lines coupled between the cleaning machine and the hand tool deliver cleaning solution by spray and suction extract the residue. Many different varieties of this basic concept are known in the prior art.
These prior art cleaning machines typically employ a separate pump for mixing water with concentrated chemical cleaner stored within the machine. The use of such pumps increases cost and complexity, while simultaneously reducing reliability. Moreover, typical prior art extraction cleaning machines normally include a storage area or device for temporarily storing recovered dirt-laden chemical solution.
As an alternative to these more complex and expensive devices, the trade frequently relies on the use of the readily available “wet vacs”, i.e. tank-type vacuum devices that are capable of sucking up dirt and other debris, as well as liquids, or mixtures of the two, and storing them in the tank until the job is finished. The tank normally sits outside of the vehicle, and is connected by a flexible hose to a series of “wands” or other terminal end tools. Once again, however, it has been found that these devices are not readily adaptable to the various requirements of cleaning the tight spaces in the interior of a vehicle, and a great deal of energy and manipulation is required in order to provide a suitable cleaning of the vehicle. In typical use, the operator holds the “wand” in one hand and a hand-operated spray bottle in the other, and is continually forced to move one or the other in and out of the vehicle if it becomes necessary to wet down an area to effect a meaningful cleaning. It may also be necessary that the operator maintain a second spray bottle with a cleaning solution which the operator alternates with a water spray bottle while holding and operating the wet vac wand with the other hand. Obviously, in the tight spaces in the interior of a vehicle, particularly in the back seat area, manipulation of the equipment can be both awkward and slow in a business where time is money, and the quick cleaning of the vehicle is an important part of the turnover of a number of used vehicles.